He said this so quietly and with an air of calmness which contrasted so strongly with Mrs Dashwood's excitement, that Little Jim gave vent to an irresistible "sk" and blew his nose violently to distract attention from it.

In Old Norse, the root appears in the word for “cloud,” sk, that thing that conceals the sun, and from which English takes its own bright and glorious word sky, a welcome alternative to the heavier heofon, an Old English word that Modern English has preserved as heaven.